This month’s Virtual Book Club for Kids is featuring three books by Ellen Stoll Walsh – Mouse Paint, Mouse Count, and Mouse Shapes. We created 2D shape collages and 3D block scenes inspired by Mouse Shapes. Affiliate links are included in this post. Thanks for supporting Inspiration Laboratories.
Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh is a fun continuation of the cat and mouse story started in Mouse Paint. The mice are running away from the cat again. This time they are hiding in some shapes. The mice start talking about the different shapes they find and begin to make things with the shapes. First they build a house with a square and triangle. Next, they build a tree. They keep creating things with the shapes until the cat chases them. They decide to build scary mice out of the shapes to scare the cat away. Does it work? You’ll have to read the book to find out.
After reading the story, Aiden wanted to create his own shape collages. I asked him if he wanted to use felt like we did for our basic shapes counting game. Aiden wanted to use paper like the mice did. He and I cut out shapes of several different colors. We used a circle punch for the circles.
Aiden first made a house and tree just like the mice did in the book. Next he chose to make a wagon. He added a house. He wanted to include a tree but didn’t have room. He said the tree was still a seed in the ground. He made two more pictures with a house and a tree. Aiden sequenced the pictures by the size of the tree.
He then wanted to make the cheese. We used a circle punch to cut out big circles and bites from the cheese. Then we cut smaller circles to fill in the spaces.
As Aiden worked on creating his scenes, we talked about the shapes he was using. What were there names? How many sides did they have? What was the difference between a rectangle and a square?
Aiden enjoyed this activity so much, he’s made several more shape collages on different days. He even cut all of the shapes by himself.
After making the shape collages, Aiden started building with his blocks. He noticed the shapes of the blocks were just like the ones in the Mouse Shapes story. He was inspired to build some objects out of the blocks.
Aiden built houses and a wagon.
Then, he turned the wagon into a truck. He added more houses and buildings and dotted the scene with trees.
Just like with the paper collages, you can take the opportunity to talk about the different shapes when building with blocks. You can discuss the two dimensional shapes or introduce the three dimensional names if your child is ready.
More Ideas from the Virtual Book Club for Kids
Here are more Mouse Shapes inspired activities to check out to:
Mouse Shapes Learn to Spell Your Name Activity from Growing Book by Book
Mouse Shapes Puppets from The Pleasantest Thing
Mouse Shapes Pattern Activity from Crystal and Co.
Triangle Puzzle from Mama Miss
These activities pair well with Mouse Paint:
Color Mixing Painting – Mouse Paint from 3 Dinosaurs
Free Color Book from Playdough to Plato
Surprise Color Mixing Heart Craft from Toddler Approved
Mouse Paint – Colour Mixing Wheel from Science Sparks
Try out these activities to go along with Mouse Count:
Mouse Count Number Lines and Ordering from Rainy Day Mum
Mouse Count Ping Pong Ball Game from Lalymom
Mouse Count Sensory Bin from Still Playing School
Mouse Count Activities with Lids from The Educators’ Spin On It
Do you have a favorite book by Ellen Stoll Walsh? It’s so hard to choose just one for us!